Monday, April 11, 2011

Job Market Omens

We are hiring undergraduate interns to do computing in support of science and engineering. We sent a job ad far and wide (and are still sending it further and wider). The pay is $15/hour for 12 weeks at full time (40 hours/week), plus $500 towards travel expenses.

So far most of the applications we have received are from undergraduates -- in fields like computer engineering -- who list their anticipated graduation date as "May 2011."

Hypotheses (all untested):

Just like every other field, there is a shortage of jobs in computing.

Our institution has watered down its degree programs to the point where our graduates are not competitive for real jobs.

They don't know how to look for jobs unless the job ad winds up in their email inbox.